The Alchemist (TYORAS)
From The Kim Stanley Robinson Encyclopedia
The Alchemist is Book 4 of the novel The Years Of Rice And Salt.
Contents |
Summary
Khalid get his hand cut by Sayyed Abdul Aziz Khan as a punishment for trying to deceive him with alchemy. With the help of his son-in-law Bahram working in their water-powered metalwork compound and of Tibetan scientist Iwang, they come to disprove alchemy altogether and Aristotle, and go on to try to understand how the world works in a multitude of fields. Bahram is the most religious-inclined and tries to keep love at the center of his happy family and of their actions; Khalid rejects all of that and fights to prove himself to the world and to God; Iwang has his own personal concept of religion, perhaps monotheist too, and Bahram realizes the Hindus too could be monotheists; Iwang develops an interest in Islamism but doesn't convert at Bahram's relief. Their theoretical inclinations are dismissed by the Khan and his councilor Nadir Divanbegi, who ask for immediate military results, with the threat of Chinese invasion looming. But the Khan's waning power and Nadir's continuous support of their capacities give Nadir more enemies in the court, and when the Chinese (the new Qing dynasty) attack, a plague strikes. The compound locks itself up; either given purposefully by Nadir to get rid of them, or as the disease spreads, the plague appears inside the compound and ends up killing them all one by one.
(in-universe summary of the story)
World history
c.1640s
(in-universe evolution of the alternative world, broader perspective from the summary)
Characters
B : Bahram K : Khalid I : Iwang S : Sayyed Abdul Aziz
(actions and evolution of jati members)
Thesaurus & encyclopaedia
(based on Heian & Orodromeus's reading guides)
Quotes
- Khalid: "Anotther mystery! Allah preserve us! They will just keep coming forever until we are one with God!" (p.278)
- Khalid on Nadir's monthly visits: "I thought I escaped the moon curse when Fedwa went through menopause" (p.310)
To create template: Bottom box: previous Book | TYORAS | next Book
